Help owners arrive ready for the conversation.

Bring the business question, relevant records, and next decision together before a counseling session.

Counseling preparation brief

What should an owner prepare before asking about financing?

Question: Explain what the money would change in the business.
Preparation: List documents available and those still needed.
Session: Keep the next questions ready for the counselor.

Spend the session on the decision, not reconstructing the basics.

A preparation brief can give the owner and counselor a shared starting point. It does not replace the center’s intake, confidential counseling process, or professional review.

Prepare for a business counseling session

Start with these inputs.

The owner’s financing purpose and amount needed
Available financial history and cash-flow questions
The center’s service area and current intake requirements

Help with the preparation. Keep the decisions clear.

This page does not imply an SBDC partnership, free service, appointment availability, or SBA endorsement. Current center services, service area, confidentiality, and eligibility control the actual path.

What does the owner control?

The owner chooses their goal and what private information to share. Agree on the business, purpose, records, people, and access before beginning. An introduction or existing relationship is not blanket permission.

What can the organization report?

Define reporting and privacy terms before inviting participants. Organization-wide reporting should not reveal private business details or treat participation, referrals, and proven outcomes as the same measure.

How does this fit with the rest of SMB?

Use the community hub to compare help for one owner, scoped community access, and data use. A named program needs its own current eligibility, funding, service, and privacy terms.

Review Community Coverage

Different help for different questions.

Start with the owners you serve.

Choose the right support model before building a program around it.

Review Community Coverage